Early Bird BBQ

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The weather forecast for the week was rain, rain and more rain. Thursday night as we were packing, torrential rain hit Overland Park. As we got about two miles from the house the rain stopped. Thank goodness! When we got to the contest area Andy from Smoke on Wheels and Tom Supple, the contest organizer, were there testing the beer from the keg trailer. Perfect timing! We were parked, set up and helping test the beer in a matter of minutes. All was good! We had a great evening meeting the early arrivals. We also met a real interesting man from Iowa who ended up being great friends with Jim McCullough.

There were 50 teams competing this weekend. We had Smoke on Wheels on one side, R Butts R Smokin on the other side and The Slabs.com and Dawghouse BBQ in front of us. The weather on Friday was a perfect 70 degrees. When Steph from The Slabs.com found out the kids had all played hooky from school that day, she was determined to hold home school. She started out with the simple things like addition and subtraction. Within minutes she had moved on to a more difficult and serious subject.....mixology. Steph held class on how to make the perfect "Dean Martini". Now that is a lesson the kids will never forget.

Friday evening Kim and Andy Groneman hosted a pot luck dinner with several teams contributing. The theme was Granny's kitchen. We had fried pork chops and gravy, pot roast, green bean casserole, mac and cheese and pintos and a bunch of yummy desserts. The only thing missing was Granny. After dinner several of us went to listen to the band, Under The Influence, play. They put on a pretty good show.

Saturday's weather also turned out to be a great 70-ish degrees. Lee and Kathy of Dawghouse BBQ hosted a lucky shot ceremony. A little Gentleman sure did suit the occasion. Then it was time to get down to business. Turn-ins went smoothly, although we weren't thrilled with the brisket. Here are our results, chicken - 14th, ribs - 32nd (what were those judges thinking?), pork - 9th, brisket - 25th. Overall we finished 13th out of 50 teams

We are taking the next two weeks off to rest up for the GAB Invitational and Open. A big thanks to Tom Supple for another successful year at the Apple Blossom BBQ contest!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

When we saw this contest on the KCBS calendar we were excited because it's less than a mile from our house. We decided to take this opportunity to let the boys have their very own Friday night BBQ dinner inviting their teachers and classmates.

The forecast was for warm and WINDY weather, and I mean WINDY! We dropped the Birdnest and the smoker off at our spot on Thursday night. That meant Friday morning was a day to sleep in. Not long after our arrival the wind God took it's first EZ-up. We decided we were cooking sans EZ-up or the nest awning this week. We had great neighbors, PDT on one side and Pork Me Purple on the other. Friday night's dinner was a great time. We enjoyed meeting and visiting with Nick and Jake's classmates and their families.

Ernie (Parsley Queen) came out Saturday morning and prepped boxes for us. She asked Chris to wash the parsley and when he was shaking the water off a couple walked by and wanted to know what he was doing. He told them he was blessing his smoker with water from a legal garnishment and they believed him. They even took his picture!

We were invited over to Pork Me Purple's for an 11:00 lucky shot. Thanks Jerrod, John and John. A little Gentleman Jack before turn-ins never hurts!

Turn-ins went smoothly. We were especially pleased with our brisket. Out of 44 teams we scored 15th in chicken, 5th in ribs, 19th in pork, 2nd in brisket and 7th overall. Thanks to Jim Lilleston for a smoothly run first year contest. Next week We are off to St. Joseph, Mo for the Apple Blossom BBQ contest.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I know this post is a little late coming........ better late than never. We packed up the Bird Nest and headed out Thursday night. We were just in time to endure crazy winds and rain for most of the trip to Osage City. When we pulled in, Lee and Kathy from Dawghouse BBQ and Andy from Smoke on Wheels were already there. Sweet Kathy was kind enough to come out in the rain and help us find our spot and get parked. I woke up Friday morning to see Andy tromping around in the mud with two trash bags on his feet. It wouldn't be Osage without a little mud and rain! Friday evening we enjoyed a Mexican themed potluck dinner that was out of this world!! Both Jake and Nick were busy cooking burgers for the Kids Q. They had an 8:00pm turn in time and things went very smooth for them thanks to Brent from Slabs of Approval.

Saturday morning came.....we ate an awesome potluck breakfast with several teams contributing. There was grit casserole, egg casserole, fresh fruit, coffee cake, cheesy potatoes, sausage, biscuits and gravy, oh I can't begin to list all of the wonderful food! Chris and I were feeling mighty good about things. Then came the first turn in time. Chicken went well. Ribs, oh boy ribs. We couldn't have been more dissappointed in ribs. Then came pork, not too bad. Then brisket, could have been better.

To wrap things up, we scored 5th in chicken, 41st in ribs, 3rd in pork, 34 in brisket and 8th overall. Nick was Reserve Grand Champ in his division and Jake was Grand Champion in his division!! Congrats to Rob from Munchin Hogs at the Hilton for his GC. A big thanks to Corey Linton and his crew of volunteers for such a well run contest. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend and we can't wait to cook in Overland Park at the VFW next week.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Monday, August 4, 2008

The Magic Moment

Below is the video of the moment we won our 2nd Grand Championship at the Bellevue, NE Riverfest. This video was sent to us from our freind Gary Benham of Bare Bones BBQ. Thanks for capturing the moment Gary.